


Building On What Remains

by scy



Category: Angel: the Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:18:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are the only ones left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Building On What Remains

**Author's Note:**

> Written for lar, who requested the pairing and wanted them doing 'mundane things.'

They cleaned off in a public restroom. It was so late at night that nobody was around to suggest they get help for their wounds, and when Ilyria glanced over her shoulder and saw Angel struggling to reach a talon gouge on his back, she stepped closer and spoke up.

Angel removed his shirt and as she tended to him, he let her fingers touch the design that curved over his shoulder.

Ilyria could read the naming and didn't need to ask why he'd gotten it. He had let her have his back without fear of her, and he had never backed down before, even when she challenged him. Still, he also didn't try and intimidate her, therefore she knew his intentions when he motioned for her to let him have a look at her injuries. She'd conceded while washing off that a different environment was warranted; they were alone, the pair of them, and covered in the blood of fallen adversaries.

They got the worst of it off, and then Angel took her to a store. He picked out jeans and a loose shirt that cinched and tied in back.

"This is appropriate?" she asked, standing in front of a mirror.

Angel had found garments that pleased him and came up to her, sleeves unbuttoned as he donned a coat. "You look a pixie," he said, and Ilyria frowned.

"And that is desirable?"

"Among a certain set," Angel said and daringly brushed her hair back and twisted it in a knot at her nape before she realized that she should react against the gesture.

"That feels familiar," she said, and Angel nodded as patted the knot. "I used to help Fred with her hair." He stepped back to survey the results. "There."

"Now we're fit for civilized company?"

"Never, but we'll pass," Angel said.

They left the store and walked among the crowed, matching strides, people moving unconsciously to let them by; the tiny woman who moved swiftly and lightly on her feet, and her companion, whose presence and gaze cleared a path. The waterfront was their destination, and when they arrived, Ilyria peered at the crowd gathered on the boardwalk and then gave Angel a look that neared accusing.

"There are more of them here."

"Mortals gather, it's unavoidable," Angel said. "But they won't be down that way," he pointed toward the rocky outcroppings that encircled the bay. "Come on."

"We will get damp," Ilyria said distastefully.

"Then stay there," Angel said. He had taken off his boots and was rolling up his pant legs while Ilyria tilted her head in bemusement.

"This is a strange whim."

"It's mine," Angel said, and began moving from one boulder to another, steps sure despite the water that slickened their surface.

Ilyria watched his progress and then she followed, moving haltingly as she learned the most efficient way to traverse the terrain.

Angel was sitting on the fathers rock. bare feet hanging down, seeming not to care that he was being hit by waves when she caught up to him.

"I do not see the purpose of this delay," Ilyria said.

"Why are you in a hurry?" Angel asked. "We don't have anywhere to be."

"This is not somewhere I have been before."

"That's the idea," Angel said. He patted the slope of the rock he was sitting on. "Take a seat."

Ilyria didn't listen to commands, but Angel wasn't going to force the issue, and he was looking at the ocean in a curious way.

"It's beautiful," he said. "You'd never guess that it can be so cold," he held dw, even though Ilyria felt no wind, and involuntarily, she moved closer, stepping between him and the water.

Angel craned his head back and seemed amused. "I'm alright."

"You are uncomfortable in this place, why seek it out?"

"I like the water, in spite of some unpleasant memories."

Hesitantly Ilyria said. "Wesley attempted to explain such sentiments to me."

"Good," Angel said. His expression was blank, the way it had been when Ilyria announced Wesley's death and then stated she wished to continue fighting. She didn't know what they had claimed of each other, but the man and the vampire had shared a closeness that had been important to both of them. As a god, she hadn't known such sentimentality herself, but when she remained on the battlefield, there had been a shift in Angel's view of her, and they'd walked away together.   
This small show of vulnerability was what she believed Wesley would have termed a testing of trust. Angel shared very little, but when he thought it was necessary for one to understand, he disclosed small things that were more valuable than they might appear.

Ilyria was alone part from him and she had not seen the point of change in the past, but since her resurrection, much of what she knew had turned out as she expected.

"Is it very cold?" she asked.

"Go on, test it out," Angel said, and Ilyria looked disdainfully at the water lapping against the rocks. "Or are you above such things?"

"A god does as she likes," Ilyria said, "and impertinence does not persuade me, but I will admit to being curious."

She stripped off her sandals and sat down next to Angel, mirroring his position. Her feet were pale like his, but shaded blue. She put her toes in and pulled them out immediately. "It's icy," she said.

"Not even," Angel said, and offered his hand as he stepped in without flinching.

They moved together around the small spit of land, Ilyria leaning into the waves and letting the spray hit her legs as she found her footing. Being with Angel felt acceptable, he knew that she could manage, but he still offered what she might accept.

"Where will you go?"

"There's still the Hyperion," Angel said.

"This land will attach more demons without it being guarded."

"This is my city," Angel said.

"Even now," Ilyria said and thought of the destruction that had happened and what they both anticipated was approaching.

"Good times and bad," Angel said, and it was a vow.

She knew that he didn't mistake her meaning for something else. It wasn't because he had given her a truce, or for remembrance of the fallen, but because as another immortal, he didn't try and make her human.


End file.
